The Traveling Widower

Tag: rei

  • How do you pack for Antarctica?

    I’m less than 3 weeks away from Penguin Day (November 16th), and I just completed my first test pack. I’m in big trouble. I’ve got too much stuff. Way too much for the suitcase I’ve used on every other trip so far. How come you might ask. Well, it’s complicated. First of all, I’ll be gone for almost 2 full weeks, so you need all the basics like underwear, shirts and socks (I plan on using the laundry service which helps a bit)

    And then there’s that weather thing. I’ll start out flying from Sacramento, to Los Angeles, and then on to Santiago where temperatures are similar to where I’m starting – high in the low 80’s. The next day, we fly to Ushuaia, Argentina where we spend the day cruising around the fjords before boarding the Resolution to head off to Antarctica. The weather in that port city can vary between 80 and 50 this time of year, and it will probably be nippy cruising around. I’ll probably want to wear a few layers, and heavier pants since we will be spending time out in the open, photographing the scenery and wildlife. 

    Then we board the ship and spend the next two days at sea navigating the infamous Darwin passage. It will be nice and cozy warm on board. There’s no dress code on National Geographic cruises, but I really don’t want to dress like a complete slob. Jan would be very unhappy if I go back to my old wardrobe habits (jeans, t-shirts, sweat shirts). And there will be times (many I hope) when we will be out in the viewing areas when there are photo opportunities of ocean beasties. Time to don windproof/waterproof layers. 

    Once we get to Antarctica, the fun begins. This is spring time in the land of ice and penguins, with temperatures averaging in the low 20’s (F). That’s really cold, but not that different from skiing in the Rockies. Activities will include kayaking on open inflatable kayaks, cruising in open Zodiac boats to view wildlife and scenery, and on shore “hiking” (snow shoes or cross-country skiing) to commune with the wildlife. Here’s where the packing challenges begin. This is sort of like packing for a ski vacation in, say, Canada, where you are flying to your destination, thus limiting what you can bring along. NatGeo provides the outer layer – a waterproof, hooded shell with a heavy fleece jacket. So you do not need to include that on the way there, but you get to take it home (if you want). Those will take up a lot of luggage space. Or I could just wear them on the plane. That could happen. Good thing I’m flying 1st class and will not have to battle for overhead luggage space.

    All the additional, required winter layers take up a lot of room in luggage. Insulated, waterproof pants are a must for most every activity. Those theoretically could be used for kayaking, but ski pants were not really designed for being immersed in water (which hopefully will not happen), so waterproof kayak pants are a better choice for that activity. And it would be nice to have something else to wear on board for evening gatherings. So that makes a minimum of three pairs of pants, other than what you wear for travel. I went a bit crazy shopping for this trip (hard to believe…it’s become a new hobby for me) – I bought North Face insulated pants, and a pair of fleece pants at the Colorado REI, and already had the kayak bottoms, and a pair of winter weight hiking pants that Jan bought me years ago. So that makes four for packing, although the fleece pants are also a thermal layer. And then I found a really nice pair of fleece lined pants, on sale, the other day. That would be overkill. Darn. I’ll save those for my January trip to Yosemite. 

    My pants dilemma – way too many!

    Thermal layers are thin, but still take up a lot of room in luggage unless you are a small size, which I’m not (tall, not wide!). You need more than one pair of each unless you want to do sink laundry, which is difficult in a small cabin, with a tiny bathroom. A couple of fleece sweaters for wearing on board take up a bit more space. And you need heavy, waterproof gloves, a hat, scarf/buff, and heavy boot socks – no flip flops on this trip. And, it would be nice to have another pair of lightweight, comfortable shoes for wandering around on the ship..sneakers would be a good choice since there is a nice gym on board. 

    And you still need room for all the odds and ends everyone carries on trips (meds, toiletries), and I’ll probably have some overflow from the camera bag. That’s almost worth another post, but I’ll spare you from another boring description of camera gear. Oh yeah, I also need to stuff a small pack in there somehow.

    This is why I always start packing a few weeks before the flight – I have plenty of time to reconsider what I really need for the trip, and can pare down to basics if need be. I do have one larger suitcase, and my next test will be to repack into that one, before I start eliminating items (except for the comfy lined pants….already out). We bought this particular piece of luggage for our one and only cruise so I know it will fit under the bed in my cabin. As long as the weight is under 50lbs, I’m good to go.

    My trips to warmer locals have been a lot easier to pack for, even with cramming snorkel gear into the suitcase. No gloves, heavy sweaters or thermal layers – just shorts, some shirts and a pair of beach shoes. The Alaska trip was relatively easy as well – just rain gear and the kayak stuff. I did bring my down sweater along, but never wore it. With the exception of the Churchill (Northern Lights) trip in 2027, all of my future adventures will be to relatively warm climates, so packing will be easier. Iceland will be in mid-summer – it may be wet, but not freezing cold. Patagonia will be a lot like the Alaska trip – possibly wet, but not freezing. Both the Baja Jones and the Run-from-the-bears Kodiak trips will be easy to pack for since there are limitations on luggage size and weight in the small single engine planes. I’ll be packing a duffel bag for clothing. 

    Since travel has become the focus of my life (Bromberg 2.0), I’m going to have a lot of opportunities to improve on my packing skills. My house will likely continue to develop into an REI outlet store as I find more specialized toys and clothing for the specialized requirements for each adventure. I’ve already got my eyes on a line of hard duffel bags for the Kodiak trip. I’m waiting for someone to invent spray on clothing. It could happen. 

  • Coming soon – Penguins!!

    Created with Google Gemini

    I do have one more trip scheduled in October (another cavern…woot! And more stairs for Moro Rock… boo hiss) but the remaining big one for the remainder of this year is Antarctica, the land of penguins (and a lot of ice). I am really looking forward to this one. But first I have to prepare…..time to gear up once again. And that’s what this post is about. So go take a nap if you are not interested. Or read this to take a nap. Whatever works for you. 

    Sorry, but when you do all kinds of strange trips, you are constantly thinking about the gear you need. My garage now has a row of hooks for the 5 or 6 packs I now own, I have converted one closet into my camera gear storage, another shelf has my four camera bags, and then another few shelves are reserved for the varied gear I need for hiking, kayaking and snorkeling. But now I have to deal with really cold weather, and doing some stuff I have not done for quite a few years – snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and mucking around in snow. Antarctica is a month away. Yikes. Fortunately, gearing up for Antarctica will also be preparation for another cold weather adventure – Churchill Manitoba in 2027. Really cold – -30F at night.

    The good news is that most of the “expedition” type tours provide at least some of the cold weather gear – National Geographic/Lindblad provides an outer, waterproof insulated shell (with a hood) as well as an inner fleece jacket. Human Habitat provides all the gear other than the base layer. Not much to pack for that trip. These are not free of course – it’s just part of the package. National Geographic/Lindblad also has an outfit that rents a lot of the other gear – the most important of these are the waterproof, insulated boots. I can’t imagine trying to pack those unless you like traveling in heavy boots. Nope. You can also rent waterproof pants, ski poles and other cold weather gear. I’m going to need a lot of that in the future, and some of which I already have – I used to do a lot of winter hiking, climbing, skiing and snow-shoeing in Colorado, so I already have a lot of that stuff:

    • Insulated, water proof gloves/mittens
    • Goofy but waterproof/insulated hats.
    • Heavy boot socks
    • Lots of fleece pull-overs, some from Google (they kept as fed and clothed).
    • Heavy kayak pants (yes, we will be kayaking along the ice shelf).
    • Waterproof gloves for kayaking.

    There were a few missing things from my packing list, so I waited for my trip to Colorado to fill in the few remaining blanks. Why wait for this trip? Denver has a flagship REI which carries has just about everything you would need for any outdoor adventure. What a wonderful store – it used to be the old Forney Transportation Museum, which repurposed the old Denver Tramway Powerhouse building from the early 1900’s. It’s now a wonderland of outdoor gear.

    REI Denver Store
    REI Denver store

    I spent multiple hours wandering through the store, and eventually found the few things I needed:

    • Insulated shell pants – good for skiing, hiking, maybe even for Zodiac cruising instead of the kayak pants.
    • Heavy fleece pants – wear on board and under outer shell pants
    • Winter buff – I think these used to have a different name. It’s basically a neck warmer. I bought a light-weight one in the Galápagos Islands when all the boat drivers had one. Great for wind, spray and sun protection. Never thought there would be specialized neck warmers before. 
    • Glove liners – you never have too many of those

    The only thing I could not find, was a new pair of hiking/travel shoes in which I could fit my Forest Gump brace and my foot. I tried on 6 different brand shoes and none of them worked. It is really a pain having to bring multiple pairs of shoes since I only had one pair of water/beach shoes which I could use with the brace. The good news is I found two pairs, one for serious hiking, at a Merrill outlet store once I got back to good old boring Sacramento. I doubt if I’ll ever be able to hike without that brace, so all my other shoes and boots will be going to charity (Soles For Souls).

    So that’s about it for Antarctica clothing. All I have to do now is figure out how to fit all this “stuff” into the same suitcase I’ve been using for the past year. I’m rapidly learning how to slim down what I bring on trips – all the ships do laundry, and most of what I bring can be dumped in with underwear. It’s not that expensive and worth it. Another problem with the Antarctica trip are the “free” jackets – you get to take them home at trips end, but how do you stuff them into your luggage? I’d like to reserve enough free space in the suitcase so I have an option to keep them. The other choice is to leave it, and Nat Geo donates them to charities. 

    Some of my other scheduled trips will also have luggage related issues as I’ve mentioned before, so this will be a good time to figure out how to travel light. The Baja trip will really be a challenge – 30lbs in luggage, and 6.5 for carry-on. My camera bag weighs over a pound…most of the camera gear will be in my suitcase. Who needs clothing anyway.

    The other challenge I’ll have with Antarctica is my photography gear – much like Alaska, I’ll definitely want to carry the big lens as well as a second camera body. I’m guessing that there will be times that I’ll need the long 500mm, as well as a shorter lens for closeups of penguins or landscape shots. Switching lenses in the cold, or on a fast moving Zodiac, is not something I really want to do. Way too risky (for the camera, not me).

    And I still have to figure out what to do with my “other” camera – the phone. I had a waterproof case for my Pixel 8, which worked great for bouncing around in small boats or in kayaks. Before I left for Alaska, I bought what seemed to be the perfect solution for the new Pixel 10 XL, though a bit expensive – a flexible plastic sleeve, with a big metal flange and glass lens arrangement that is completely waterproof, and could be used for snorkeling and diving. It was built for regular sized phones, but their support group said it was stretchy material which will fit the larger XL models of phones. This was a lot like a shoe salesman telling you that a wide width size 12 shoe will fit a narrow size 13 foot. Nope. I tried that once and it did not work. Same for phone covers – the metal flange scrapes on the back of the phone. That’s not a good thing. I’m hoping the company (www.Outex.com) agrees. It’s a really nice product, just not meant for larger phones.

    So I’m still working on that problem..

    That’s enough geek talk on gear. I’ve already got my packing list for Antarctica, and with over a month before leaving, I’ve got plenty of time to begin “test packing”. Expect many penguin photo’s in the near future.